Written In Blood

Chapter Nine.

The year: 1280
Location: Somewhere on the outskirts of London, England. 

Rayna paced the floor of her lonely cottage, finally feeling fed up of cooping herself away.
Elijah thought it best to leave Rayna to her own devices, as nothing he did seemed to help.
In that time, he'd met a girl named Aya, turned her and together, they founded a society of Vampires named The Strix in the hopes for a better world of Vampires, all in Rayna's name and honour. But for Rayna, herself, it had taken her almost two hundred years and to cross paths with a torturous Vampire Hunter for her to switch her humanity back on. 

She decided to go for a walk, where she met a girl with fiery red hair, seemingly running from something.
"Help me!" She cried, crashing into the Heretic.
"What is it, my dear?" Rayna asked, cradling the girl's shoulder, comfortingly.
"I'm being chased, I have to go." The girl panted, desperately trying to catch her breath.
"Who's chasing you?" Rayna pressed.
The red head looked at her hauntingly.
"The worst man you will ever meet..." She whispered before perking up. "I have to go."
Rayna thought for a moment, feeling that her good deed list was running a little short.
"Come with me." She said.
Rayna led the girl back to her cottage, instructing her to lay low. 

An hour had passed and no one had come by, until an all too familiar voice rang through the trees.
"Oh, come one, love! I just want a bite!" He said.
Rayna's blood began to boil.
"Niklaus." She spat.
"You know him?" The girl, now known to Rayna as Mary, asked.
"He's an old friend." Rayna glared. The girls waited, but Rayna knew it would only be a matter of time before Niklaus heard their heartbeats.
So she decided to go and talk to him.
"Wait here. Stay quiet." She instructed the girl as she left the cottage.
She saw Niklaus scouting the area, so cleared her throat to grab his attention.
Niklaus turned around in a shot.
"Still 'just a Vampire' I smell." Rayna said, leaning against a tree with her arms folded across her chest.
Niklaus' eyes widened with shock.
"Rayna..." He breathed.
"Why are you terrorising the townsfolk?" Rayna asked, nonchalantly, cutting to the chase.
"A man has to eat." Niklaus smirked.
"Snatch, eat, erase is usually the way to go about it. But I understand. Dogs love to chase." Rayna replied, mirroring Niklaus' expression.
"Ah but, as you said, I'm not a 'dog' yet."
"No. But I'm sure you're still trying." Rayna sighed.
"I will never feel whole without my wolf side." Niklaus growled.
"Perhaps not. But in the meantime, do us all a favour and keep the antics to a minimum."
"No promises, love." He smirked once again before Vamp speeding into the cottage, shortly followed by Rayna.
"You should've had a human sign the deeds." He chuckled.
"My mistake." Rayna scoffed.
Niklaus looked around, eventually spying the gorgeous red hair of Mary, who was hiding under the table.
"Come out, come out, love." He sang.
Niklaus grabbed her red curls and yanked them, dragging the girl to her feet.
"Please don't... Don't hurt me." Mary begged.
"It'll only hurt for a moment, my darling." Niklaus whispered, getting closer and closer to her as he stroked her hair with the back of his knuckle.
Just as he went to sink his teeth into her, Rayna flicked her hand, reciting a spell in her mind, causing Niklaus to buckle back in agony as he clutched his head.
"Rayna... Stop..." He gasped.
With one final serge of strength, the Original Vamp sped back to Mary, ripping a chunk of her neck out with his teeth.
Rayna's concentration faltered as he did so, causing her to lose the spell.
"Niklaus! Stop it!" She screamed.
Niklaus let Mary go, her body falling to the floor. Then he was gone...
Rayna ran to the girl, falling to her knees beside her.
"You're going to be alright. I'll help you." Rayna bit into her wrist, putting the blood to Mary's lips.
Mary drank, bringing her arm up to get as much blood as she could.
"Oh dear, oh dear. So compassionate. And now you're going to ruin her life." Niklaus' voice sounded behind Rayna.
Rayna spun around, seeing his evil, blood soaked smirk.
In Vamp speed, Niklaus went to Mary and snapped her neck in an instant.
"No!" Rayna screamed.
Niklaus smiled. "She's your problem now."
In a blink, he was gone. 

In the months to come, Rayna taught Mary everything she needed to know – they became best friends. But that wasn't to last too long.

"Rayna, we need to talk..." Mary spoke one day over some dinner.
"What is it?" Rayna asked.
Mary hesitated, thinking of how to word what was to come.
"You know I love you." She began, earning a nod from the Heretic opposite her. "Well, while I appreciate all you've done for me, I think I need to go."
"What?" Rayna asked with disbelief.
"I have eternity now. I can go and do whatever I want. I want to travel. I want to see the world and all of it's glories. I can go wherever I want and meet anyone I like. I just feel like I could be doing so much more than the occasional feed and peeling potatoes for soup." She chuckled, humourlessly.
Rayna sighed. "I understand..."
Mary too, nodded. 
"I can't thank you enough for taking me i and teaching me all you have. I just need to go and find out who I ma now."
"Mary, it's okay. You don't need to explain yourself to me. I understand. When would you like to leave?" Rayna asked.
"Sunrise." Mary replied.
Rayna nodded.
"Well, I sincerely hope that you get everything you want out of life."